home cook meal

Stir-fried Chinese Cabbage with Mushroom

2008-11-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Curry Chicken

2008-11-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

Sweet & Sour Fish

2008-11-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

Steamed Fish with Salted Soy Bean (Tauceo)

2008-11-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

Stir-fried Lady's Finger

2008-11-22T11:12:00.000-08:00

Tom Yum Chicken

2008-11-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

Stir-fried Clam

2008-11-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

Sauteed Snail

2008-11-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

Sauteed snails, to dip with home-made sauce.

Tom Yum Fish Head

2008-11-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

With our own remixed Tom Yum ingredients.

Curry Fish (Kembong)

2008-11-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

For this curry dish, Indian Mackerel or Kembong is used. Lots of basil leaves are added.

Roast Pork

2008-11-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

Steamed "Tiger" Fish

2008-10-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have come across this type of fish. What's the name - Tiger Fish. The seller also told us its flesh is soft and taste very good. A check in the internet, I found many species other than this!

Out in the restaurants, the price for this size would probably cost RM60 - 70 based on the price we paid in the wet market. It has a very heavy weight for a medium size fish like that though.

Certainly to taste the freshness of the fish (flesh), the better way to cook it is steamed. We prefer it steamed with soy sauce.

Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan)

2008-10-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

The above is stir-fried with crispy salted fish. Taste good.

Curry Prawn

2008-10-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

Simply irresistible. I just love curry - better still with home-cooked curry.

Stir Fried "Choy Sum"

2008-10-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite greens.

Squid with Black Sauce

2008-10-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yummy!

Deep Fried Black Pomfret - Sweet, Sour & Spicy

2008-10-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

I have always wonder why black pomfret is cooked deep fried and not like its cousin the white pomfret - steamed. It is no doubt that the flesh of black pomfret is harder, so it is more suitable to deep fried it.

For the dish here, we cook it sweet, sour and spicy. A little bit of each. This style is fairly popular in the local restaurants. However, the taste still depends much on the cook of the day.

Of course, if you ask me, I prefer a home-cooked Black Pomfret i.e. the above.

Chinese Porridge

2008-10-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

The option to go without rice for the Chinese is porridge. Porridge is boiled to perfection and watery by nature. That's what set it apart from the normal rice we eat almost daily.

Stir Fried Water Convolvulus (Kangkung) with Shrimp Paste

2008-10-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing beat the distinctive smell and taste of Chinese shrimp paste in this dish. Usually I like the kangkung to be spicy, stir fried with grind red chilly.

This vege is known as kangkung in this part of the world.

Steamed Pomfret

2008-10-19T05:57:00.000-07:00

Yummy!

The Chinese like their fishes be be cooked in such a way - steamed. This is also one way to really taste the fish freshness. I for one am very particular about the fish freshness. No compromise.

Minced Pork Ball

2008-10-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

We had this dish in a popular Hakka restaurant in KL recently. It is a mix of minced port and salted fish, deep fried to perfection.

So, we thought it would nice to make it a simple home cooked dish of our own.

Garlic Prawn

2008-10-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

A simple dish, can easily be prepared at home. Oh la la, the kids are lovin' it!

Fried Black Pepper Crab

2008-10-19T04:35:00.000-07:00

Crab is everyone favorite seafood I guess.

There are two distinctive types - meat crab and roe crab to choose from. The former is favored for its meat whereas the latter is sort after for its roe. Though not as famous as caviar, to some seafood lovers, crab roe can be as much tasty. I'm just OK with it, preferring the meat crab. There are certain ways to distinguish the two. But I'm not an expert, so I'll just leave out this part.

Again, crab can be cooked in many styles. The Chinese would like it hot and spicy as usual. This hot and spicy crab dish is very popular in any seafood restaurants in Malaysia or this part of the world.

What about the one you see above? Well, I would say it is fairly good. Not far off comparing to those you eat in restaurants!

Minced Pork with Salted Fish

2008-10-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

This dish is perfect to go with Chinese porridge.

A perfect combination when eating Chinese porridge is having dishes associated with saltiness because the porridge itself is usually "tasteless". Sometimes you can find carrots and sweet potatoes being added for some flavor.

Stir-fried Spinach with Dried Shrimp

2008-10-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

A simple vege dish - stir-fried spinach with dried shrimp. Taste good too!

Squid Salad

2008-10-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

Salad is one of my favorite must-haves especially when eating out in restaurants. I will always check out the Caesar Salad.

However, the salad dish we are talking about here is a Thai-style salad known as kerabu. Kerabu has a much more distinctive taste i.e. spicy & sourish. The main ingredients varies e.g. it can be chicken, seafood or just fruits.

As usual, Thais like their cooking with lots of chilly and at the same time sourish. It is also not unusual to find lots of Basil leaves or usage of it in Thai cooking. I personally like the aroma of basil leaf. So, for our home-made Kerabu Squid, lots of fresh basil leaves is used to create that pungent taste ala Thai.

Prawn Noodle

2008-10-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

This Prawn Noodle is synonymous to the local Penangites. In Penang, the place where I come from, it is known as Hokkien Mee in local dialect. Some people call it Har Meen - in Cantonese.
The most important thing is retaining the original prawn taste in the soup. There is a significant reason it is known as Prawn Mee.

For Janet's version, I took three bowls. I will put my money for RM10.00 a bowl - worth every penny for the original.

Spicy Wintermelon Soup

2008-10-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Spicy soup....it always remind me of the ever so popular Tom Yum. This Spicy Wintermelon Soup is also one of the Nyonya's originals if I'm not mistaken. It is certainly not for the light-hearted because this soup is supposed to be very spicy.

Prepare yourself a glass of cold H2O when slurping this soup.

"Kentucky Fried" Pork

2008-10-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

Like the all too familiar fried chicken that we are so used to eat, I think pork can taste as good with the same style of cooking. Just do not overcook it or rather control the heat during deep frying so that it can taste a lot more juicier and tender.

Oh ya, it is also quite crispy in the outside. Hmmm....yummy!

Panfried Eggplant with Chicken Cube

2008-10-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables but again it depends on how it is cooked. It can't be denied that the style of preparing a dish will influent your liking for it. After all, when it comes to food, it is all in the mix and match in one's cooking.

As for the above, I kinda like it that way. Well, you can have it mild or a little spicy with added cuts of chilly while cooking it.

Curry Kapitan

2008-10-04T02:52:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite curry dish of all time.

This recipe is touted to be originated from Nyonya cooking. I remember my mom once told me so. Boy oh boy, my mom had made it her own and I would look forward to this dish from my mom's menu time and time again in those days.

Today, I would say Janet has made it her own too. These combo pictures shown here are her very recent cooking of this dish while visiting KL - at my brother's home. What's in there of this dish? Well, it is actually a curry chicken dish, blended with essential ingredients to create a distinctive spiciness and sourish taste. The gravy is thick but I just can't stop having many scoops to go with the tasty chicken and rice.

Well, my brother Chef Ronny has given it a thumbs-up and that confirms that Janet has got this recipe right from the start.

Home Cooked Food

2008-09-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today is extremely special in a sense that I will start blogging about FOOD. It's my favorite pastime.

Why is it so special, one may ask? Now, food is something that we must have, in fact daily. Everyone craves for good food. The rich and famous will go to fancy restaurants or hotels to find their favorite food. But still the average Malaysians are famous for finding their favorite hawker-style food, be it in the trendy modern cafes, old-fashioned coffeeshops or at the roadside stalls. Simply ask Malaysians in the street, they will tell you where to go for the best hawker's food, depending on which states you are in. I would say Penang is better known for the varieties, next is Ipoh and follow closely by KL.

But ask yourself this question, wouldn't it always taste good with your mom's cooking at home when it matters most (provided you can have the luxury eating a home-cooked meal)? When the price has become so dear, when the portion of serving has shrunk, when the original ingredients in the food have somehow diminished, you feel overcharged at times, etc. etc., you would die for someone at home to cook a decent meal.

I'm a food lover too and particularly fussy about taste and service when I eat out especially in a restaurant, you know, when they impose a service charge of 10%. I always feel if you want good food, you should spend a little bit more to eat at famous food outlets or hotels. But how many times can you do that? So, you would end up in the coffeshops, double up as restaurants which serve instant-cooked dishes ala restaurant style.

I, for one is a lucky man of sort. My mom was a very good cook. Her simple cooking style had somehow able to whet my appetite everytime. She would simply whipped up one or two dishes instantly when I came home from work in those days and they would taste so good - no complaint, only compliments. Though she has found a better life in heaven long ago, her cooking will always linger in my tastebuds.

Did I just say I was lucky of sort? Oh yeah, this is because now I have another good cook whipping up good food at home. Of course she is not a "direct replacement" of my mom but somehow she has managed to step into my mom's shoes comfortably. And she is none other than my beloved other half - Janet.

I crave for her cooking, no doubt about it. Nothing compares to an instant home-cooked meal everytime you reach home from an exhaustive working day. My daughter is another fan of hers. Mama's cooking is always the best - so she says!

Janet is not a full-time housewife. She has a fulltime job in the day. Overtime she has picked up her cooking skills from constant practice at home. Some of her peers are amazed by her cooking skills - unbelievable is the word. As you know, modern day working women don't cook nowadays. And those who cook are rare. So, practice makes perfect, huh!

So, this blog is gonna be all about her cooking - home-cooked food to be exact. I will start off with her everyday cooking with pictures, recipes, videos (possibly) and some other food that I find interesting when eating out. Hey, nothings beats enjoying a home-cooked meal in your home-sweet-home with your immediate family. The closeness can never be felt anywhere.

One thing for sure, IT IS VERY MUCH CHEAPER COMPARES TO EATING OUT. The freshness is there, definitely. This is also something like 'eat-all-you-can' while not having to dig deeper into your pocket!

Let's get it started, yeah!